Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Coconut Crispy Chicken Salad

One of my favorite things to eat has always been Crispy Chicken Salad - I mean salad is always healthy right? The best was always Friendly's with extra honey mustard, ranch, and tortilla chips - when I was waitressing there in high school I ate it like 3 times a week.

The chicken salad I made tonight was not like that at all - with vegetables from
my CSA, coconut crusted chicken breasts, and a lime/olive oil dressing it was healthy and delicious!

Coconut Crispy Chicken Salad

I do have to say that the chicken was not as coconutty as I was hoping/expecting, I'll experiment next time to up the coconut factor. Anyways, here's the recipe.

Ingredients
1.5 lbs chicken breast (used about 1/2 for this and the rest i'll eat for lunch this week)
1/2 cup almond meal
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 head of green leaf lettuce
1/2 avocado
1/2 small red onion
1/6 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1/4 up sunflower seeds
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons mustard (spicy brown, i would have used something milder, but it was the only one I had that is paleo friendly)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1) Cut chicken breasts into small 3 bite sized pieces, about 1/4 inch think
2) Set up 3 bowls 1 with almond meal, 1 with eggs, and 1 with coconut flakes seasoned with salt
3) Dredge all chicken pieces, first lightly in almond meal, the lightly in the eggs, then press a little bit firmer into the coconut flakes. Lay coated chicken in a single layer on a plate before cooking.
4) Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a pan on medium high (if you use 1.5 lbs of chicken like me, you'll probably need to use to pan) when the oil is hot place the chicken in the pan, and cook for 3 minutes
5) When chicken has browned flip over and cook for another 3 minutes
6) While the chicken is cooking prepare the salad, cut up lettuce and top with diced avocado, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and thinly sliced onion. Separate evenly into two bowls.
7) Make dressing by juicing lime in top a bowl and a mustard, whisk together and then slowly whisk in olive oil. Taste and then season with salt and pepper if desired
8) Remove chicken pieces from pan and salt to taste.
9) Top salad with chicken pieces (3-4 each) and dress with lime dressing.



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